Read Online After the Ending by Lindsey Fairleigh, Lindsey Pogue - Free Book Online Page B

sarcastic laugh escaped from his throat. “Does it
matter?”
    Does anything? I wondered and shrugged.
    On the short drive to downtown Longview, I took the
opportunity to examine Jason from the passenger seat. He was different—harder
and more closed off—from the man I remembered. I’d been surprised when he
announced that I would be his partner on search days, especially because I had
the distinct impression that he was avoiding me.
    “You know,” I said lightly, trying to break the ice,
“since you found me, this is the first time I’ve seen you out of your clothes.”
Realizing what I’d just said, I blushed and stammered, “I mean, your Army
clothes…obviously you’re not naked…I mean…” I groaned inwardly, reminding
myself that I was no longer the teenage girl with a heartbreaking crush on her
best friend’s older brother. That version of me was long gone.
    Jason’s throaty chuckle was like lighter fluid on my
burning cheeks. With a minimal half-smile and a barely-there dimple, he said,
“It’s a little cold for that. And wet.” He parked the car in front of a long
series of storefronts and stared ahead. “But then again, there’s really only
one good reason to strip down in a car, and that would more than make up for
the cold. Don’t you think, Red?” After assigning me a new nickname, he exited
the car.
    Stunned, I gaped at the now empty driver’s seat. Very
vivid, very inappropriate images flashed through my mind. I was sure my
whole body was blushing…and doing other things, unfortunately.
    Suddenly, my mind screamed, What about Cam?
    It took me a few moments to calm myself. When I finally
exited the car, I tried my best to dismiss the meaningless flirtation. Jason
flirted like other men breathed, easily and without thought. It meant nothing.
    We spent the next seven hours searching the old brick
apartment buildings and stores in the once-adorable downtown area for signs of
life. We found few living people—all too insane or afraid to communicate. That,
combined with the plethora of dead bodies, made for an unsettling day. With the
clinging scent of rotting flesh following me, I wondered if I’d ever be able to
enjoy meat again.
    “Can we check that place for dog stuff?” I asked,
pointing to a little pet shop in an antiquated two-story building across the
street.
    Jason shrugged. His ever-watchful gaze looked everywhere
at once as we crossed the empty street side-by-side.
    Once in the store, I followed our recently established
routine and kept watch near the shattered glass doorway while Jason searched
the building for potential dangers. He had just stepped through the only other
doorway in the shop—a squeaky swinging door that led to the store’s back
area—when four men rounded the block outside. They weren’t as dirty as the few
other living people we’d seen, but they looked a hell of a lot meaner.
    I ducked into the shadows and whispered desperately
toward the back door, “Jason.”
    Nothing.
    I tried again, a little louder, “Jason!”
    Still nothing.
    The scruffy survivors stalked in a direct path toward my
hideout, and I stifled a curse. “C’mon Jack,” I said softly, but my dog was
nowhere in sight.
    Just as I turned to rush toward the back of the store in
search of Jason, Jack backed through the swinging door—he was dragging a very
annoyed Jason.
    “What the hell, Dani? Can’t you keep him under control?”
    Jack’s chest rumbled, his mouth still full of Jason’s
sleeve.
    I stepped toward them and tried to explain, “Jason,
there’s—”
    “Well, well, well…what do we have here?” a gravelly voice
interrupted from behind me. A chorus of deep, taunting laughs enhanced its
menacing effect.
    I froze mid-step, terrified. Based on the sound of the
man’s voice, I estimated I was halfway between the strangers and Jason. I
stared into Jason’s furious eyes, feeling like a horde of monsters would seize
me from behind if I even dared to breathe.
    “Come